Building construction



June 3, 1930. F. D. CUMWNGS 1,761,660

- l BUILDING CONSTRUCTION (QUAKEPROOF BUILDING) I Filed Oct. 16, 1928 2Sheets-Sh et l Patented .inne o, 193@ rrnerr FRANK n. oUMMrNGs, on LosANGELns, cALrFoRNrA Y BUILDING `ooNsrnnccrroN (erinnern-oor BUILDING)Application filed October 16, 1.928. Serial N.' 312,849.

This invention relates to improvementsin building construction, (quakeproof building).

More especially it provides for the embodiment ofimprovedquake-absorbing elements, for reducing materially the dislocatingeffects of earthquakes and the like upon buildings and other structures,with result,-

ing damage to persons and property.

In my co-pending application for patent Serial No. 247,607, I vhavedisclosed and claimed means to this end, which, by` a sort of flexibleearth-connection to a large degree prevents the oscillations of theearth containing a 'multiplicity of'rollers.

from being communicated to the structure and its contents. Thepresent-invention embodies improvements in the quake-absorbingvelements, andthe disclosure herein isV of a species different from thespecies claimed in the said application. Y

The invention relates in Y general to the mounting of the superstructureof the building, or of the other engineering work which is to beprotected, asi-for instance an aque-` duct or a bridge, ona foundationcleavqage e lines of contactbetween rollers and structure afford atotalsupporting area which is vastly greater'than where the rolling ele-`ments are balls, as heretofore proposed, and, as compared with ballsupports, this correspondingly reduces the intensity Vof the crushingforces to which the rolling elements are subject, when in action, andwhen at rest. This in turn reduces the deformation of each rollingelement, resulting from its compression, andV increases the Vfacilitywith which all of them start into action when oecasion arises. TheseVdistinctions'become of especial importance where buildings ofVsubstantial weights and heights are to be pro-1 v tected; In the saidco-pending application the species illustrated and claimed includes twocleavages, the onehaving rollers extending at right angles tothe rollersin the other: and with Vthe embodying of a cam in each rolling element,so that, with lateralr amplitude of quake, the cam introduces aliftingof thestructure, and gravity tends to re turn the strueturetooriginalposition.

In the species herein set forth the rollers may be cylindrical. A camisV embodied in one orboth of the surfaces against which a rollercontacts. Practical problems of building such axshiftable combinationinto a wall accurately and economically are met by providingfor bearingplates which can be veasily laid by those skilled in the .con-

Arnr 'Prien Y struction of masonry or concrete, and which becomerespectively rigid with the foundation or the superstructure, and whichprovide the desired cam lifting effect by co-acting with the rollerswhen anV earthquake occurs. Several ways are illustrated herein.

The bearing plates may have, on their backs, `lugs'or projections formore rigid inbuilding with the foundation or with the superstructure.Theirv respective faces, which .constitute walls of the cleavagescontaining the rollers, may be corrugated in a valleys whose lrisingslopes constitute the cams. Varieties of these are described herein withtheir advantages. It is intended Athat thepatent shallV cover bysuitable eX- pression in the appended claims whatever of 7 Figure 4 isan elevation,in section on i-4. of Figure 2; i Figure 5 is an elevation,in section on 5 5 nf Figure-2; 4 Y Figure 6: is aY diagrammatic.showingof positions Vwhich may be assumed vby'rollers andA tlieireiigagingelements Vwhen a shock occurs; andvv Y Figures Z-l() are Ders ae'ctiveof alternative e l l arrangements-of the camsurfaoes.

on the lower cleavage plane, indicated at 8-3;

Referring to the drawings, and especially to the form of the inventionillustrated in Figures 1-5, the building` foundation 10 and itssuperstructure 3Q are represented as being held apart by rollers 15 and25, with median plate 20 between the rollers. The rollers 25 arearrangedL in a cleavage which extends under the superstructure at thelevel 2 2, above the median plate 20; and the rollers 15 are in anothercleavage at the level 33, below the median plate 20. These clear-agesare horizontal and parallel. As represented, the Whole of each cleavageis in a single horizontal Zone, but the Whole extent of a cleavage isnot necessarily so. The median plate 20, which is separated by thecleavages from both foundation and superstructure, rests on the tops ofthe rollers 15 of the lower set, and supports the rollers 25 of thehigher set. The cam surfaces are arranged so that each roller hearsagainst at least one cam. surface, which may be below it or above it;and there may be such surfaces bearing upon it both below and above, asin Figure 10. These cam surfaces are in the nature of shallow valleyswith intervening rounded ridges, Figures 4t, 9. VIn the middle of eachof these valleys a roller rests; or the valleys may be inverted over therollers, Figures 5, S. Preferably the median plate 20 will be of metal,and usually madev of sections, of convenient length, (short` likebuilding blocks; or long. like stringers) arranged in succession alongthe foundation. It will haveits surfaces, either both plane; or bothfurroived With valleys; or one surface plane and one surface furroWed;as ma7 be elected by the designer. rlhe furrovvs in the same cleavageare all parallel to each other; and these all run at right angles tothose in the'other cleavage. Preferably the rolling surface is made Without any sharp peakat its highest point. Then if an earth movement is ofsuch amplitude as makes the rollers run over the crest, the smoothnessof the curve will facilitate the rollers being` brought back totheiroriginal position by the return oscillation ofthe earth.,

lith the form of plate 20 seen in Figures 1-5 the roller-engagingsurfaces of both foundation plate 1l and superstructure plate 31 may beplane. rThis simplifies the construction of the foundation andsuperstructure. All of the cam surfaces Will then be provided on themedian plate 20, being seen at 21 on its under surface and at 23 on itsupper surface. The cams can thus be prepared in advance with as greatprecision as may be desired, by the making of this one plate, which canbe made by casting, forging, machining, or Whatever desired method ofmanufacture and of linish, may be most easy, goed and economical. Andthe top face of the foundation 10 may be a steel plate 1l comprising astandard steel shape which needs only to be laid truly horizontal by themason or other craftsman. Then, if the rollers and plates 15, 20. 25 and'31 have been accurately made, it is only necessary to lay them looselyin their proper places and then to proceed With the superstructure.Standard steel shapes can also be utilized for the under plate 31 of thesuperstructure 30.

But, as seen in Figure 7, if it be desired, the roller-engaging undersurface of the superstructure may be a plate 32 having the cams; andsimilarly the roller-contacting face of the foundation may be a plate 12having the cams, in Which case the median plate 22 might be plane bothon upper and lower faces as in Figure 7. Or, if desired, th,n camvalleys may all be inverted as in Figure 8, being formed in a medianplate 23 and in a superstructure plate 32', or both may be concaveupward, as in Figure 9, in the plates 24 and 13; or the cam valleys maybe duplicated for each roller. one with hollow up and the other invertedwith hollow down, as in Figure l0. ln this last case the rise of the camneed be only one half aA nat, on each member. for the getting of adesired lift. Vslhero both are concave downward there is less of apocket underneath for the gathering of dirt or foreign matter. thatmight obstruct the operation.

The respective plates 11, 20 and 3l may either be in' long` lengths, asbeams. or bc comliositc. in short lengths, comparable to building.blocks, of masonry or other sort. it being a matter of choice Whethervto lay the plates 11 and 2() and 3l in long units or in short units.These may have flanges to house the rollers cndv-.fise^ examples beingseen at 27. They may have flanges to grasp securely the top offoundation and bottom of superstructure, as at 17 and 37. And,especially if the plate be in small units.l there may be projections 18(Fig. 4) from the plate into the adjacent concrete or masonry, offoundation or of superstructurc. in order the more firmly to lock thesurface plate in rigid relation with the foundation or superstructure ofwhich it is a portion. The plate 31 may constitute a sill for thesuperstructure, if this plate be a long unit; and masonry blocks may belaid on it as in Figures l and Or, if it be in short sections. a longsill may be laid over the sections, in which case the part 89 in Figureei might represent a cross sectionof such a sill of Wood, upon whichconstruction could proceed.

The drawing represents in Figure l a foundation 10 of poured concrete,and a superstructure 30 of concrete blocks, laid as masonry on a longsteel flanged plate 3l which constitutes the sill. The plates 1l and 20,on the contrary, are represented. as

and the sections of platell have another;-

but for the structure shown in Figure 9 the sections of foundation plate13 and of median'plate 24. may be identicall in shape; and if square maybe laid in succession all around. the'structure, regardless of cornersVand changes in direction of the course of the wall. positioned close toeach edge of the wall of the building as those at right and left sidesin Figure l; and to have'one or more between them. This makes a. broadbearing base for supporting whatever is above.

A structure thus embodyingl tlie'invention.

is largely unresponsive to horizontal forces whose natural tendencywould be to dislocate or demolish it. The foundation can yield to andfro horizontally in any direction, moving upon eachset of rollerssimultaneously whatever distance is needed so that, by the combinationof both, the foundation moves away from the superstructure in anydirection with the qua-king of the earth, while the superstructure willbe lifted and lowered slightly as the rollers le ride up and down theirrespective cams; and if the quake leaves the foundationpermanentlydisplaced laterally from its origina-l lo'- cation, the superstructureautomatically will move to where the foundation is, by gravity, with therollers running back to the depths of the valleys. v v

As each of the cam surfaces is inthe nature of a groove, or valley, therigidly paral-v lel walls thereof maintain the parallelism of all therollers in a particular cleavage. If the rollers are cylindrical, allwillcome to rest in the middlesf the valleysV with their tops vatuniform height. Thus'the rollers will tend to arrange themselves inproper operative positions, and will be retained in such positions; andnormally-gravity willV hold them at rest, ever ready to provide for thedesired yielding of foundation in any direction at time of earthrpialreVhazard.

The abilityof the *devicev toV respond to oscillations in any horizontaldirection is due to the angularV relation between the two 'directions inwhich rolling movements can occur and can combine to produce theVdesired resultant movement. Thisresultant is attained most easilyandsimply when Vthe said relation is rectangular, which is lthearrangementlikely to bemost used in practice. Hence rectangularityfisthe relation between valleys and between rollingrmove vments in thedifferent zones indicated in the ln any case itis well to have arollerclaims; but it will be understood that thisA is only an approximateterm.

I claim as my invention:

l. A device for protecting a structure against earthquakes, comprisingthe provision of two horizontalfoundation cleavages in the structure;`rolling elements in eachV of said cleavages for supporting the ,loadimposed by the superstructure, thexelements in one cleavage havingcontacts with the corresponding cleavage surfaces extendingperpendicularly to like contacts in the other cleavage, whereby alltogether permit a resultant rolling movement between sub-structure andsuperstructure with horizontal component in any direction; and cams insaid cleavages co-acting with said rolling elements to provide arelatively. slight verti lcal component of movement of the superstructure simultaneously with its said rolling. Y f

2. A- structure having earthquake protection comprising two horizontalfoundation cleavages; plates lining they cleavagel surfaces, one of saidVplates being provided with parallel valleys, constituting cam surfaces,extending perpendicularly to likevalleysin another plate; and bearingrollers in the valleys for lifting the superstructure upon movement ofthe foundation in any horizontall direction, said rollers having linecontactsV with said plates and serving at all times to ysupport the loadimposed by the superstructure.

3. An earthquake protection for a structure, comprising two sets ofcylindricwl load-supporting rollers arranged in (liderent horizontalzones at the foundation of the structure; and a plate, located betweenthe two sets of cylindrical rollers, forming part of the structure Vandhaving its upper and under surfaces respectively in contact with therollers of the two. sets; and cam surfaces for engaging the rollers inline contact. Y 4 Y f 4. The combination, with a structure, ofearthquake .protection comprising loadsupporting layers ofelongatedrollers. there being elongated shallow valleys occupied by theindividual rollers betwe n the earth and the superstructure which is tobe protected.

5. An earthquake,protection for ture, comprising two sets of cylindricalloadsupporting rollers` in different horizontal zones,and shallowvalleys torn ed in the structure, wherein the rollers lie,utliose.in oneset being perpendicular to those in the other set.. l v

6. An earthquake protection for a'structure, comprising two sets ofcylindrical loadsupporting rollers in different horizontal Zones and aplate there between having shallow valleys formed in its upper surfaceandV similar valleys, inverted and running at right angles thereto inthe lower surface, in

which valleys said load-supporting rollers are received.

7. An earthquake protection for a structure having walls, comprising twosets of cylindrical load-supporting rollers in said walls in dilerenthorizontal zones, and, associated therewith, and plates, having camvalleys which the rollers occupy said plates being made up of asuccession ofV unit-sections which individually have lengthapproximately equalling the width of wall.

8. An earthquake protection for a structure having` walls, comprisingtwosets of cylindrical load-supporting rollers in said walls in differenthorizontal Zones, and, associated therewith, and plates having canivalleys which the rollers occupy, said plates being made up ofunit-sections each of which individually is approximately as long and aswide as the width of the wall and each of which has valleys positionedin it near its opposite edges, those on one side of the platesectionbeing perpendicular to Jthose on the other.

9. A structure having two horizontal foundation cleavages withload-supporting rollers at each cleavage, all rollers in the samecleavage being parallel and being at a substantial angle to those in theother cleavage.

l0. A structure having two horizontal foundation cleavages withload-supporting rollers at each cleavage, all rollers in the sainecleavage being parallel and being at a substantial angle to those in theother cleavage, said rollers having cani surfaces associated therewithwhereby the superstructure is raised by their rolling.

11. A structure having cleavage space eX- tending horizontally betweenits foundation and superstructure, and, associated with said cleavagespace, load-supporting rollers carrying the weight of the superstructureand arranged in two superimposed zones, the rollers in one zone beingarranged to roll in one horizontal direction and those in the other zoneto roll in a different horizontal direction.

l2. A structure having a plurality of horizontal cleavages betweenfoundation and superstructure, and, at each cleavage, loadsupportingelements arranged for horizontal movement of the superstructure thereon,each said load-supporting element having line contact with the surfacesof its cleavage and extending angularly with respect to theload-supporting elements of an adjacent cleavage.

Signed at Los Angeles, Calif., this ninth day of October, 1928.

FRANK D. CUMMINGS.

CERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,761,660. Granted June 3, 1930, to

FRANK D. CUMMINGS.

it is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specificationof the above nnmbere patent requiring correction as follows: Page 3,line 104, claim 3, and page 4, lines 7 and 16, claims 7 and 8,respectively, strike out the word anrl"; and that the said LettersPatent should be read with these corrections therein that the same mayconform to the record of the case in the Patent Oflice.

Signed and sealed this 22nd day of July, A. D. 1930.

Wm. A. Kinnan, (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents.

